Tower School appointed Todd Eveleth as its new head of school on July 3. While it was in the middle of the summer, Eveleth had no shortage of work to do as his inaugural school year approached. He spent the last month and a half preparing to use his diverse educational background to leave a positive legacy on Tower as its latest steward.
The Maine native attended high school at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, where he got his first inspiration to join the field of education.
“It was a challenging place,” Eveleth said. “There were four teachers that kind of wrapped their arms around me and said ‘We’re gonna make this work’… as I took jobs in different fields other than education, I couldn’t get those four teachers out of my mind.”
The other career fields Eveleth worked in included corporate sales and journalism. His journalism skills assisted when he segued into his first school-related job as the head of the English department at New Hampshire’s Cardigan Mountain School in 1999. Eveleth later found himself holding the same position at the Fessenden School in West Newton, where he eventually held multiple positions over a seven-year tenure. He spent the last five years at Nantucket New School as its head before taking on his newest challenge at Tower.
Eveleth’s Nantucket New School career featured accomplishments such as increasing enrollment by 40% and leading a successful capital campaign that expanded educational facilities and faculty housing.
He revealed some programs he has his sights set on instituting and expanding at Tower.
“Tower has done a great job advancing project-based learning. I think that’s something we can build on quite a bit,” Eveleth said. “There’s also some great travel opportunities that we’re working on. We’ve got a group of students right now in Cuba… Just giving the kids a greater sense of the world is so important.”
Eveleth added that he plans on partnering with the Island School in Eleuthera, Cuba to continue to grow this travel program.
Despite being in a high-ranking administrative role, Eveleth emphasized the importance of being visible to his students and staff. He held a small gathering for Tower families and staff at his own home and plans on holding another before the summer’s end. When the school year finally begins, he plans on being accessible to the students by continuing to embrace a philosophy he has had during his entire career in education.
“I love being in the classroom,” Eveleth said. “I’ve never had a year in education where I wasn’t in the classroom on some level, so I will continue to do that. Because that’s where it all really matters.”